In the discussion of the background that follows, reference is made to certain structures and/or methods. However, the following references should not be construed as an admission that these structures and/or methods constitute prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate that such structures and/or methods do not qualify as prior art.
Conventional heating elements are generally formed of wire or sheet metal of various designs and geometries. However, wire patterned elements are generally limited in operating temperature by virtue of being embedded or semi-embedded in a surrounding medium, such as insulation. Further, wire patterned elements are typically not precision formed, are highly labor intensive and have a medium ratio of surface to mass resulting in fast heating and cooling. For sheet metal heating elements, those formed as primarily square patterns suffer from non-uniformity, while those with continuously curving patterns produce high stresses, both effects being more pronounced when the heating element expands at operating temperatures.